The Secret To Increasing Student Engagement In A Classroom

Increasing classroom engagement is every teachers goal. While there are many up and coming edtech tools that support teachers and increase student engagement, many teachers have come up with creative DIY classroom solutions themselves. We asked some teachers to share their creative methods; here are a few: Design Puzzles Paula Burgess, Math Teacher at Hume-Fogg Magnet High School (Nashville, TN): My seniors in trigonometry have been working on a mathematical design project (involving empty cardboard rolls) that will not only enhance their math skills, but also give them an opportunity to present their designs to second graders as part of a project-based learning activity. We are making puzzle pieces to create a mathematical design using empty cardboard rolls.Lost at Sea Marshmallow ChallengeMike Provitera, Business Professor at Barry University (Cutler Bay, FL), Management Consultant, Book Author: Two exercises that I like to use often in the classroom and in consulting are: The Lost At Sea exercise: People select from a group of items and figure out which to use first in rank order if they were lost at sea. After the exercise is complete, the correct ranking and the reasoning behind it is revealed. The Marshmallow Challenge: In my book, I discuss The Marshmallow Challenge, an 18-minute exercise that groups 4 to 5 people together to create the highest structure using 20 pieces of spaghetti, a yard of string and tape, and one marshmallow. I use this as an instructive design exercise because it encourages teams to experience simple but profound lessons in collaboration, innovation, and creativity. It’s also a lesson in incentives and skill sets: good incentives plus low skills does not necessarily equal success.SurvivorKristen Fusaro-Pizzo, 10th and 12th Grade English Teacher at Staten Island Technical High School (NY): To keep my students engaged, I started playing Survivor in my classroom seven years ago, and it has become my signature. Classes are divided up into teams, and they last the length of a curriculum unit. During the game, teams are awarded points based on classroom participation, scores on quizzes/exams/projects, and classroom challenges. The team with the mos t number of points at the end of the unit wins a prize, usually gift cards to a local coffee shop. TabooShaneequa Cannon, Former Classroom Educator at Young Womens Preparatory Academy (Miami, FL): I was a high school English Language Arts teacher for over a decade. I found vocabulary to be instrumental to my students’ academic and professional development, so I adapted Taboo. The vocabulary words we studied were the main item the students had to guess while the keywords and phrases from the textbook definitions were on the taboo list as well. Students had to find another way to describe their vocabulary words, deepening the understanding of the use and the meaning behind the words. Each student created three vocab taboo cards; they loved it when someone couldn’t guess their word because they made the card hard. Did you know provides free access to educators? Browse thousands of college application essays that you can use as examples in your teaching. We also offer exclusive interactive graphs that can be used at the school discovery and application stages.

Free Essays on World War 2

War is one of the most tragic things in our world today. It is even sadder that usually it comes around at least once in our lifetime. In the 20th century alone we have already had two huge wars. These wars were call the World Wars simply because they involved most of the big countries of the world. Many people have died in these wars, Especially the Second World War. That is my focus for this essay. The leader of Germany at the time of WW2 and the person who most think started WW2 was a man named Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler was born in Austria. By the time that World War 1 started in 1914, he was living in Germany. He served well in the German Army and for that he earned a medal for bravery. At the end of the war Hitler decided to take up politics. By 1921 he was already the founding leader of the Nazi party. Hitler was an incredibly racist man and he had a great hate for Jews. By 1933, Hitler gained political power by winning the election. Soon after he made himself absolute dictator, calling himself the Fuhrer, which means "Leader". By the end of the 30's he was already sending Jews off too concentration camps to meet a horrible death. I believe that Hitler was one of the greatest causes of World War 2. Although there are many other reasons, he was definitely one of them. Another reason was the Treaty of Versailles. This was the treaty that was signed at the end of World War 1. This treaty outlined the rules that Germany must follow because of their defeat by Britain and France. The treaty angered many Germans, for most of the rules in the treaty were unfair and Germany lost a great amount of wealth. One of the cruelest reasons for the war was Hitler's racist hate for Jews. He would send them off in cattle cars to places called concentration camps were they would be slaughtered by the thousands. World War 2 was huge and involved a lot of countries. There were thousands of battlefronts and war sites. The two main battlefronts ... Free Essays on World War 2 Free Essays on World War 2 War is one of the most tragic things in our world today. It is even sadder that usually it comes around at least once in our lifetime. In the 20th century alone we have already had two huge wars. These wars were call the World Wars simply because they involved most of the big countries of the world. Many people have died in these wars, Especially the Second World War. That is my focus for this essay. The leader of Germany at the time of WW2 and the person who most think started WW2 was a man named Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler was born in Austria. By the time that World War 1 started in 1914, he was living in Germany. He served well in the German Army and for that he earned a medal for bravery. At the end of the war Hitler decided to take up politics. By 1921 he was already the founding leader of the Nazi party. Hitler was an incredibly racist man and he had a great hate for Jews. By 1933, Hitler gained political power by winning the election. Soon after he made himself absolute dictator, calling himself the Fuhrer, which means "Leader". By the end of the 30's he was already sending Jews off too concentration camps to meet a horrible death. I believe that Hitler was one of the greatest causes of World War 2. Although there are many other reasons, he was definitely one of them. Another reason was the Treaty of Versailles. This was the treaty that was signed at the end of World War 1. This treaty outlined the rules that Germany must follow because of their defeat by Britain and France. The treaty angered many Germans, for most of the rules in the treaty were unfair and Germany lost a great amount of wealth. One of the cruelest reasons for the war was Hitler's racist hate for Jews. He would send them off in cattle cars to places called concentration camps were they would be slaughtered by the thousands. World War 2 was huge and involved a lot of countries. There were thousands of battlefronts and war sites. The two main battlefronts ...

Biogenta plc and Outback Inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Biogenta plc and Outback Inc - Essay Example onalities are calm, relaxed and secure; agreeable individuals are cooperative, tolerant, trusting; conscientiousness persons are dependable, responsible, achievers while openness includes intelligence and creativity among others. The management can thus assess individuals and classify them based on these traits and offer them varied experiences to elicit productivity and good performance. For example, conscientious individuals can be given leadership roles since they are responsible and dependable while those who portray openness can be entrusted with projects due to their creativity. The problem with trait theories is that they are unable to explain individual differences in personality. Another problem is that an individual may not behave in a similar manner in a different situation thus personality assessment during recruitment or selection based on traits may be unreliable. The person may not be able to produce results when placed in a different situation hence the theory is not a good predictor of behaviour (Ewen, 2003). The behavioural theorists emphasize the interaction of individuals and the environment. Theorists like Skinner and Watson believe behaviour is learnt through operant and classical conditioning (Ewen, 2003).The stimulus in the environment forces individuals to act in certain ways and behaviour is reinforced through rewards or discouraged through punishment. They believe that people are born empty and gain personality through a processes of association (Engler, 2009). The management can thus change people’s personality by providing them with a proper working environment and by reinforcing behaviour through reward system. The management has to decide the kind of behaviour required in the organization and reinforce it. The psychoanalytic theory by... This research is the best example of comparison of Biogenta plc and Outback Inc. Biogenta plc is a multinational company with manufacturing facilities in over 10 countries and a span of 15, 000 employees in over 80 countries. It is a world leading business dealing with crop protection products such as herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. Its mission is to be the most trusted provider of crop-protection products in the world and has a set of values embedded in its culture to foster performance. It encourages diversity and corporate social responsibility and has innovation as its strength. Outback Inc on the other hand, is a family managed organization operating in Sydney, Australia. It is an adventure based tour company established in 1990s and has grown from a small size to moderately sized company offering a variety of services such as guided tours, accommodation and meals. The company has no clear vision or strategy to guide its actions and depends on Japanese clients. A lot of problems such as declining profits, high turnover and loss of clients are being experienced in the company due to poor management and organizational culture. Both organizations operate in a turbulent environment but Biogenta operates in several countries hence it may be affected more by diverse cultures. Outback has also to deal with individuals from different cultural backgrounds in its service provision but mostly deals with Japanese nationals and does not have to deal with complex management issues associated with international human resource management.

Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 11

Personal Statement Example I have therefore over time learnt to be hardworking and always desire environments that stimulate my intellectual abilities and this I hope to enjoy at California University. As a result of the cultivated culture of handwork and desire for all round development I attained very good grades in subjects such as mathematics and English as well as sports subjects like Soccer and physical education classes. I also have a strong desire of learning in environments with people from different parts of the world since I believe there is strength in diversity. I therefore am applying for the University of California’s transfer program not only to benefit from the challenges of being in new environment but also to benefit from learning in a diverse environment that will enhance cultural exchange. I believe therefore the educational experience at the University of California will be enriching and fulfilling in terms of meeting my professional goals. I am a strong disciple of knowledge and quality education hence would always strive to get just that and apply the same to the betterment of humanity. I believe the very diverse learning environment that is the University of California will give me an opportunity to independently learn, interact with people from all over the world and stimulate my critical thought. I will make use of all opportunities to gain knowledge which I should apply in offering solutions to our world’s many problems on graduating an Actuarial Scientist from the University of California. By applying my knowledge and offering solutions to issues facing the world I believe will be able to touch, transform lives of people and contribute significantly towards society’s health. I am also an avid sports person; I highly appreciate the value of sports in enhancing the health and stability of society. I studied and attained straight A grades in soccer and physical education while at college. I participated as a soccer player in the

S6W3Dqs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

S6W3Dqs - Essay Example The same applies to President Eisenhower’s in his farewell address. In this respect, Henry Kissinger’s remark that â€Å"Morality has nothing to do with foreign policy† is totally misplaced and uncalled for. Morality should, as a matter of fact, be part and parcel of the overall national strategy. Morality has to do with the distinction of good from bad or right from wrong. On the other hand, foreign policy is concerned with the beliefs, attitudes and actions of America towards other countries. Mr. Y (2011), in A National Strategic Narrative clearly articulates the American dream as regards to foreign policy. For instance, the narrative calls upon the United States to pursue it domestic and foreign policies with a unified effort that reflect constancy of purpose (The National Strategy Forum Review, 2010). It further goes on to state that US should pursue her national interest while at the same time allow others to pursue theirs. However, this is pegged on condition that American values are not betrayed. Finally, Mr. Y says that America should seek fair competition and should not hesitate to deter bad behavior. This in itself is a moral position in foreign policy. Based on personal reflection, the National Strategic Narrative, and a recollection of values enshrined in American constitution, the role of morality in national security strategy cannot be downplayed. Other nations will only respect the position of USA on various matters based on her moral standards. The involvement of multinationals such as NATO in America national security has greatly boosted the collective power to promote security, curb incumbent threats, as well as protect the American citizens. Such is the case with which NATO and its 27 member states work to promote ideas and peace of the member countries. America is part and parcel of these efforts done by NATO. Secondly, multinationals work with the American government to advance the

Cultural Differences and Communication Management

Cultural Differences and Communication Management The same person, thus, can belong to several different cultures depending on his or her birthplace; nationality; ethnicity; family status; gender; age; language; education; physical condition; sexual orientation; religion; profession; place of work and its corporate culture. Culture is the lens through which you view the world. It is central to what you see, how you make sense of what you see, and how you express yourself. http://www.1000ventures.com/ten3_operations/customized/cross-cultural_differences_china-us.html Four Cultural Dimensions Cultures both national and organizational differ along many dimensions. Four of the most important are: 1. Directness (get to the point versus imply the messages) 2. Hierarchy (follow orders versus engage in debate) 3. Consensus (dissent is accepted versus unanimity is needed) 4. Individualism (individual winners versus team effectiveness)7 http://www.1000ventures.com/ten3_operations/customized/cross-cultural_differences_china-us.html Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges Culture is often at the root of communication challenges. Exploring historical experiences and the ways in which various cultural groups have related to each other is key to opening channels for cross-cultural communication. Becoming more aware of cultural differences, as well as exploring cultural similarities, can help you communicate with others more effectively. Next time you find yourself in a confusing situation, ask yourself how culture may be shaping your own reactions, and try to see the world from the others point of view. http://www.1000ventures.com/ten3_operations/customized/cross-cultural_differences_china-us.html Cultural Differences In some cultures, looking people in the eye is assumed to indicate honesty and straightforwardness; in others it is seen as challenging and rude. Most people in Arab cultures share a great deal of eye contact and may regard too little as disrespectful. In English culture, a certain amount of eye contact is required, but too much makes many people uncomfortable. Most English people make eye contact at the beginning and then let their gaze drift to the side periodically to avoid staring the other person out. In South Asian and many other cultures direct eye contact is generally regarded as aggressive and rude. In some cultures and religious groups eye contact between men and women is seen as flirtatious or threatening. Men of these communities who do not make eye contact with women are not usually rude or evasive, but respectful. Different cultures also vary in the amount that it is acceptable to watch other people. Some experts call these high-look and low-look cultures. British culture is a low-look culture. Watching other people, especially strangers, is regarded as intrusive. People who are caught staring usually look away quickly and are often embarrassed. Those being watched may feel threatened and insulted. In high-look cultures, for example in southern Europe, looking or gazing at other people is perfectly acceptable; being watched is not a problem. When peoples expectations and interpretations clash, irritation and misunderstandings can arise Culture Shock Failure to identify cultural issues and take action can lead to a culture shock. In order of priority, the most often found symptoms of culture shock are3: feeling isolated anxiety and worry reduction in job performance high nervous energy helplessness. Not coping with culture shock symptoms when they appear can lead to a very negative situation. Respecting Differences and Working Together Anthropologists discovered that, when faced by interaction that we do not understand, people tend to interpret the others involved as abnormal, weird or wrong5. Awareness of cultural differences and recognizing where cultural differences are at work is the first step toward understanding each other and establishing a positive working environment. Use these differences to challenge your own assumptions about the right way of doing things and as a chance to learn new ways to solve problems. Case point   DuPont A US-based multicultural team at DuPont gained around US$45 million in new business by changing the way decorating materials are developed and marketed. The changes included new colors that team members new, from their experience within other cultures, would appeal more to their overseas customers.6 Building Trust Across Cultural Boundaries Research indicates4 that there is a strong correlation between components of trust (such as communication effectiveness, conflict management, and rapport) and productivity. Cultural differences play a key role in the creation of trust, since trust is built in different ways, and means different things in different cultures. For instance, in the U.S., trust is demonstrated performance over time. Here you can gain the trust of your colleagues by coming through and delivering on time on your commitments. In many other parts of the world, including many Arab, Asian and Latin American countries, building relationships is a pre-requisite for professional interactions. Building trust in these countries often involves lengthy discussions on non-professional topics and shared meals in restaurants. Work-related discussions start only once your counterpart has become comfortable with you as a person. Cultural differences in multicultural teams can create misunderstandings between team members before they have had a chance to establish any credibility with each other. Thus, building trust is a critical step in creation and development of such teams. As a manager of a multicultural team, you need to recognize that building trust between different people is a complex process, since each culture has its own way of building trust and its own interpretation of what trust is. Anthropologists in cross-cultural management Observing people in Sydney made me quite clear that the dominant focus of cross-cultural academics and practitioners on national cultures is problematic. People from so-many cultural background study and work in closely cooperation at universities and public and private organisations. Looking at your Indian, English, Dutch, Japanese or German colleague as representatives of fixed national cultures will not help you very much in your collaboration. The so-called essentialistic perspective has become very popular in contemporary management literature and consultancy and is highlighted by European authors, such as Hofstede (1990) and Trompenaars (1993). The work of Hofstede and Trompenaars, who have developed cultural maps of the world in which each country can be situated based on their score on different indexes, fitted perfectly in the assumption that culture is a (more or less) stable entity that can be engineered, and managed. However, recent evaluations of these essentialistic cul tural programs are not positive in regard to organizational costs and sustainability. The programs use a dramatic oversimplification of the culture concept and make no difference between espoused values and actual behaviour. Consultants of large cross-cultural consultancy firms themselves dont believe in the value of multi value models. Instead they do use their international sensitiveness and experience to train managers and employees. In our research on the number one consultancy on cross cultural business in the Netherlands showed that a larger part of the consultants were using anthropological tools and methods rather than the corporate developed multi value models. None of them however, were anthropologists. And this is surprising as international management and the training of managers in cross-cultural affairs should be of the core competences of anthropologists. However, anthropologists are not very good at selling their knowledge and skills to corporations. They are outnumbered by all other kind of professions that have taken up cross cultural consultancy. Only recently I have seen a growth of (small) anthropological consultancy firms, but there could be many more of them. The message that everything is more complex than what our cultural competitors bring is of course not a very good argument for selling your services. That could be done better by, for example, showing in a business case the costs of failures and awkward collaboration. To support managers and organisations operating in a international context, we have explored new directions in cross-cultural management by making managers aware of practices of (cross-cultural) collaboration. The interest is not so much in gaining knowledge of other (national) cultures but rather on spaces and boundary objects in which cross cultural collaboration in daily organizational life takes place. Two weeks ago I was working with a large project management firm that had asked help to manage their large diversity of workforce. The company had employees of more than 35 different national cultures working in complex projects. Instead of training the management on all these cultures we studied collaboration practices at the workfloor from a socio-material perspective which includes spatial settings, materiality and social behaviour. The French anthropologist Latour called this symmetric anthropology. We found that engineers and project employees of both the company and the clien t gathered around so-called rollerboards. These are tables that can roll and have large paper drawings of installations on them. Around the rollerboard 6 different professionals stand, hang and are bending over the drawings. In debating which objects had to be left out, changed or added, each of the 6 professionals got time to explain their view, experience, perspective. If agreed upon, different colours were used to materialize the debate and colour the drawings on spots were the debate was on. The manager was surprised as he wanted to replace the rollerboard by a computer system, which would have ruined this efficient cross-cultural collaborative practice. In this way anthropologists can deliver knowledge and advice that are not given by traditional cross-cultural consultancy firms.

Reducing Teen Pregnancy With Sex Education Essay -- argumentative, per

Adolescent pregnancy is a crisis that inadvertently affects all. This is not only a burden to the young woman and her family, but also has a consequential impact on society. By reducing the number of adolescent pregnancies we could promote child well-being and decrease child poverty statistics (National Data). Increasing the number of comprehensive sex education courses would help young people learn how to better protect themselves against premature pregnancy and STDs, and would in turn curtail the number of teenage pregnancies. Among industrialized countries the United States has the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy. The rate of teen pregnancy in the U.S. is twice that of Great Britain and four times that of Germany and France. According to Saul Hoffman, Ph.D. and publisher of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy study, adolescent childbearing in 2011 alone cost U.S. taxpayers $10.1 billion, (Hoffman 2012.) Statistics show the alarming number of female adolescents walking around with oversized stomachs. Three in ten girls in the United States get pregnant at least once by age twenty (National Data). Less than one three of teen mothers obtain a high school diploma and only 1.5 percent have a college degree. Adolescent mothers are at a greater risk for birthing complications such as pregnancy induced hypertension, poor weight gain throughout pregnancy, and pregnancy-induced hypertension (Hoffman 2012). Infants born to adolescent mothers have a greater risk for premature birth, low birth rate, increasing the possibility of infant death, mental retardation, and chronic respiratory problems. Children born to adolescent parents are higher at risk for abuse and neglect, and are less apt to acquire adequ... ...015. . Hoffman, Saul . "Numbers: The Public Costs of Teen Childbearing ." The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy , 30 Oct. 2012. Web. 21 Mar. 2015. Landry, David J. , Jacqueline E. Darroch, Susheela Singh, and Jenny Higgins. "Factors Associates with Content of Sex Education in U.S. Public Secondary Schools." Perspecitves on Sexual Reproductive Health 35.6 (2007): 261-262. Print. "National Data| The National Campaign." The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy , n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2015. .